


Redivivus

by PeachyKei



Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Modern Girl in Thedas, Slow Burn, also updating but i promise updates are a comin', but it doesnt matter when varric the iron bull and sera are around they take her place amiright, how do i tag without giving spoilers?, i tried to make it so maren doesnt have a potty mouth, im bad at tagging, oc is not the inquisitor, rating may change at a later date
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-03-14 21:40:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3426509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachyKei/pseuds/PeachyKei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I died. I didn't really want to, but that didn't mean I wanted to live on in a different world. Of course this all has to due with that stupid hag of a grandmother. She can't even give me a break when we're both dead. And so here I am, cleaning up this crazy old bats mistake. I'm not making any sense. See... My grandmother was a witch. Eventual CullenxOC</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Non Reale

* * *

It started with a death: my death, to be exact. I didn't expect to live a long, fulfilling life; it wasn't really something that happened to the woman of my family, including myself. My mother didn't live a long life and my grandmother didn't exactly live a fulfilling life- she'd beg to differ though.  


My grandmother wasn't someone who was completely sane.

When I was nine, my grandmother was the only family I had left after mother died. I never knew my dad, but in this day and age who did? Though the atmosphere of her creepy cabin in the woods was different from the loud and bustling Manhattan, I loved it as kid. She was a quirky old woman who would talk about the many experiences in her life (some that probably wasn't appropriate for a kid, but that was why I loved her). But the thing I loved most about her is thing I hated when I grew up. Like most kids, I loved Harry Potter; the idea of magic and mythical creatures. Fantasy was a place that I drew into after mother's death, and my grandmother would only encourage it.

See, my grandmother was a witch.

Well, she _thought_ she was. It's not like she went around waving a wand and  _expelliarmus-ing_ everything that moved. She created runes and sigils, and had many Book of Shadows that she made over the years. Most contained healing and protection "spells", though grandmother always did love getting the stray curious hipster, who would ask for fortunes or even a séance, to which she would scare the living daylights out of, and charge a ridiculous amount for, something I would always get a laugh out of. Grandmother never dabbled in "dark magic", and always said to never mess with those who have passed. She was always very firm about this, and I never really understood why. The old hag was batty though, so it's not like it completely matters.

After her death, I left everything behind for the loud, dirty city as quickly as possible. I spent most of my days with my grandmother though, and never had a real education, so to say (unless the "magic" lessons count) and I found that I wasn't good at talking to people, much to my embarrassment. It didn't take long to figure things out though. Men practically devoured the whole 'ephemeral witch who has a touch of innocence' spiel, much to my dismay, but who was I to deny a pleasurable night and a warm bed to sleep in at night? Some years later I met a pretty good guy. It wasn't serious, but he offered me a place to stay and we would mess around when we got bored. Not a life I found to be too fulfilling, but grandmother would have definitely thought otherwise.

At twenty three, the day before the four year anniversary of my grandmother's death, I visited her small creepy cabin. The last time I walked through these woods was pretty much four years ago (this place wasn't exactly Disney World), but four was a number grandmother mentioned on more than a couple occasions (she wasn't of Asian descent, but I think she mentioned my grandfather (whom I've never met) was a Japanese man, but I digress). Plus I mean, she was still my grandmother, I did love the old hag. Despite the lack of upkeep, the cabin looked pretty much the same. Grandmother was never one to tell her Mother Nature where to go. The inside of the house still had all of our things. My guess was that no one wanted to steal from a 'witch', even if she was gone. The small jars filled with herbs and other healing items were covered in dust, just like her tomes. I went through to the back, where her grave was. It wasn't anything fancy, she didn't have a tombstone. I buried her by the willow tree by myself; I knew she would've preferred to stay by her home, by her "magic". I put the dried flowers by the tree, though i didn't fail to notice the blooming flowers that surrounded her grave spot. Did someone plant those?

I sighed, "Hey grandmother, long time no... See," I noticed the wind picked up and the long tree branches started moving around, "I thought I'd visit you on the fourth year. Get it, right? Because four is the death number, or something like that?" I sighed again and glared at her grave, "Looks like I still have your poor sense of humor, you old bat,"

It was quiet. The only sound came from the occasional scurry of an animal and the wind. The skies were getting darker, just like the feeling of the atmosphere. Though I never believed grandmothers magic mumbo jumbo, I remember the things I picked up from her, and like a sixth sense, something told me that the atmosphere-change wasn't her doing. That something wasn't right. "I hope you're doing well. Where ever you are. One with nature or something like that, right?" The skies were getting cloudy and dark, despite it only being three o clock in the middle of July. It wasn't raining and there wasn't any thunder.

It suddenly got very quiet. My ears were ringing from the silence. "Well, grandmother, I'll think of you tomorrow but I really should be going, I mean it is getting pretty dark out," I turned around and quickly walked away from my grandmother's cabin. I was a coward. This feeling wasn't grandmothers, and I wanted nothing to do with it. I ignored the thought that something bad could've happened to grandmother. No. I didn't want anything to do with this magic bull crap. I moved passed it. Grandmothers dead, and besides, the living have no business with the dead.

When I got home, Aiden was starting up the Xbox. "Were you going to start  _without_  me," I asked, acting offended.

He shook his head, "How'd it go?"

"It went like any other death-iversery would," I said stiffly. "I talked to a pile of dirt, and looked like a loser doing it. Can we just finish the game? We're almost done right?"

I guess he could sense I didn't want to talk about it, but gave me a pointed look anyways. "Yeah, we just have this last mission and then all the missions are complete,"

I grinned, "Sweet! Now play for me, nerd!"

He scoffed but complied nonetheless. The incident at grandmothers stayed at the back of my head as Aiden controlled the character and I told him what to do. Life here was comfortable. Normal.

When I woke up the next morning, Aiden had already left for work. After getting ready for the day, I sat on the couch, and turned the TV on as I took a gulp of lemonade. The screen was fuzzy, like there wasn't any reception. Which was weird because we had cable. I was able to distinguish some noise coming from the TV but I couldn't understand it. Staring at the screen made me feel uncomfortable for some reason. I texted Aiden, " _tv broke_ ," and a couple minutes later he responded.

_"did u try turning it off and on again?"_ I rolled my eyes, but tired it anyways. On the screen was Adam Savage talking about some death ray on  _Mythbusters_.

_"fixed it."_

He didn't respond but I'm sure he was getting a kick out of it.

When Aiden came home a couple hours later, he made me jolt awake from my nap. "Got some food," he said, lifting a carry out bag. I nodded, thinking about the weird dream I had. There was... grandmother and her tree, but it was all dark or something? I shrugged, but sent good vibes to my crazy dead grandmother anyways. "Can you heat these up? I have to piss really bad," he shoved the containers in my hands as he ran towards the bathroom.

I walked to the microwave and put one container in absentmindedly, thinking of grandmother. "So, how 'bout that game, huh?" Aiden's voice from the bathroom startled me. He continued, "I'm kind of upset we finished it. Guess we'll have to start with Origins again, hm?"

I didn't respond, still dazed as I stared at the microwave. I was dazed... I felt a shove away from the microwave and snapped out of it a second too late. There was a small boom that filled the air and my eyes widened. Aiden came into the kitchen, his tie undone and smiling, "What'd you do this time, klutz?"

I stared as my hand put pressure on my lower stomach, my eyes still wide and my body feeling chillier than usual. My back was still facing him as he saw the microwave spewing smoke, "You... forgot to put the food on a real plate again." His voice was distant. I couldn't speak, but I slowly turned around. Despite the pressure, blood started pouring from my stomach. His eyes were saucers as he ran towards me, his hands putting more pressure on my stomach. "Shit, what did you do? Babe, say something!" He ran to the table where his phone was, and called an ambulance.

I thought of grandmother, of her death four years ago, of mother's death fourteen years ago. I thought of the four weeks it took Aiden and I to beat the new Dragon Age, the four minutes I put the stupid Chinese food in for. Four, four, four, four. It kept repeating in my mind, like a chant. I stared at the floor as slid down the counter; Aiden's voice was muffled under the chanting.

Four, four, four, four.

Magic isn't real, but at that moment, all I wished was for grandmother to fix me the way she did when I would fall over a tree branch and cut my leg on something.

But magic isn't real.

* * *

_  
_


	2. Paciscor

* * *

 

I woke up to someone petting my head. Which was strange because last I remembered I had the remnants of Aiden's microwave embedded in my abdomen. I opened my eyes and found darkness, unable to see who was trying to comfort me. Was I dead?

"There's no need to worry," the voice rang out. Their voice was indistinguishable, like wind or the river by grandmother's cabin. I couldn't picture them. "You're dead, yes, but I am here to ensure you don't pass on just yet. You can't." They tightened their hold for a second, before going back to petting my hair.

I ignored the creepy implications, unsure of this whole situation. This wasn't real. I was dead and the afterlife was just one big cuddle session. Everything was normal at the beginning of the day and I just went and died? This wasn't how I expected the afterlife to be; I just thought a person's soul would be reincarnated and that was that.

They hummed lightly, "You aren't completely off. It happens in most scenarios, reincarnation, but there is a reason you are here. You  _can't_  move on. Your mother wasn't able to, nor your grandmother. You're all stuck, and it'll only get worse. But you are the last of your line, and so, you're my... Our only option," they sighed.

_Great_ , they knew grandmother.

"She was an extraordinary witch."

I groaned, "Please, just give me the brief version. I'm dead and I still have to hear about my grandmother and her 'magikks'?" They continued petting my head, and I could've sworn my head started feeling sore.

"The point, dear, is that she wasn't always a smart woman. I was dead long before she was born. She dabbled in magic a little too dark, a little too sharp for her mind to handle. She was in love; she was inexperienced and wide eyed." The voice cooed, "But, she wanted—needed — anything to bring her precious love back!"

They paused, and rested their hand on my head.

"I'm not a bad person for keeping my end of the deal," They said. "She thought the man was important, and I'm sure he was. I brought him back to your world, just as he was ready to move on too. He was almost fully dead; I remember him. Hiroma, correct?"

"Hisashi Homura," I said quietly. "Grandmother spoke of him sometimes,"

"He was ready to die, he begged me to leave him be. A deals a deal though, and Eileen realized that those ready to move on need to stay in their realm." They sighed, and continued petting my hair, which was starting to hurt. I noticed that it wasn't just my scalp that I was starting to feel. "Your grandmother broke our deal. She knew the full repercussions of her actions.

"'If you are so worried about the man in your life, than surely the women who will come in it will mean nothing to you if this deal is broken.' This was as straight forward as I could be. Her love's soul wasn't fully there anymore and she blamed me for it. She broke our deal and now I am stuck here."

"This magic talk is crazy," I snapped, "You sound like you're trying to make excuses for whatever ill fate is to become of me. And 'deals', cursing someone's family? You don't exactly sound like an angel yourself."

"Don't be so paranoid. I'm no angel, I'm a tired soul. What I did wasn't an easy task, and I'm not unselfish enough to bring someone back to your world without anything in return. I am a tired soul, I just want to rest, yet your grandmother was the one to take that away. She broke that deal, so it can never happen. She'd rather she had a cursed family than to help me."

Everything was starting to hurt, I grabbed onto my lower stomach. I didn't care about anything anymore, just let me die. "What happens to me, then?" I forced out.

"Well you are the last of Eileen's bloodline; I need you to finish what she could not. My...  _friend_  is out in my world. They have been reincarnated time and time again, and they have yet to complete their final task. They can't move on until then, and I have been waiting so long."

"What happened to 'bringing someone back isn't an easy task'?" I shut my eyes, though I saw the same as when they were open. It was getting hard to concentrate.

"You aren't that far gone though, are you?" the soul hummed. "How is the pain? Getting worse, yes? I suppose you could say I've been... preserving you our entire conversation."

My eyes were shut, but I could feel them moving. They lifted me to my unsteady feet. "Now, it's almost time for you to go. I figured the standard reincarnation wouldn't help me out too much. What can an infant do for me?" It was hard to tell, but they almost sounded excited. "You can keep your previous body. I am afraid I will have to take away something though."

They hesitated, "When I brought your grandfather back, he wasn't able to bring all of himself. He was too far gone for me to bring all of himself with, and he left most of his mind, a part of his actual soul. Because you aren't as far gone as him, the mentality of your soul will most likely stay intact. However, there is a reason the saying is an eye for an eye.

"You need your eyes, however, to find my friend, as well as most of your other senses," they muttered to themselves, "But you don't need to touch them in order to help." The spoke up, "I'm afraid that in this world, you cannot touch any living person. I'm not exactly sure what happens to those who would touch someone, but I don't think you'd like to find out."

I could barely understand the voice. This voice that wasn't a normal voice. The voice, the soul? My head was pounding and hazy and I felt my stomach tearing open.

"Are you listening? There isn't much I can say about my friend." The held me up by the shoulders, speaking in a rushed tone, "But I can tell you this: Join the Inquisition. You need her, her mark...  _His_  mark. My friend is hiding, not in a place most can find. It may take some time but you will find them. You have to. If you help me, this curse can be broken, and all of your family can rest in peace, once its time."

The... Inquisition? A sharp wave of pain hit and I felt nothing.

When I said I wanted nothing to do with this magic bull crap, I meant it. I spent about ten years of my life dealing with a crazy delusional woman who believed some drawings, a Gothic looking journal, and an air of mysticism was all one needed to really get by in the world. Her delusions didn't warp my adult mind despite years of dealing with it, and yet here I was.

I trudged through the thick, fluffy snow. Despite living in New York where it was always freezing around January, fluffy white snow wasn't very common for me; it was made muddy and grimy by the time I would go outside. That didn't make me feel any better about walking through all of this.

Somehow the hag could be dead for years and still find a way to meddle in my life. I bet she's cackling madly wherever she was.

I sighed, but tried to think about my situation nonetheless, it's not like there was anything but snow around. It didn't take me too long to figure I was in Thedas. The soul's guide towards the 'Inquisition', their 'mark'? Not mention the passing squeals of some nugs a couple minutes back. Yeah, I died. And I was willing to make my peace and live in the void, be reincarnated, or go to hell for listening to all of grandmother's witchcraft. Maybe I was in Hell; forever stuck having to clean grandmother's mess.

A sharp pain in my lower abdomen brought me back to the present. Despite being reincarnated, (which honestly sounds more like a sorry excuse of a formality of the term than the actual thing) I was still in the body I had when I died. Before I died? That included my pajamas and the large gash in my stomach that had a huge piece of microwave door embedded into it.

I felt cold, but not frostbitten despite the only warmth coming from my sleep clothes; I felt pain in my abdomen but I wasn't keeling over dying... Again. I briefly wondered if it was because I had already, well, died once. I wondered if I was still considered dead.

The idea left my mind quickly as I found what I was looking for- populace!

The problem?

It was Haven. Haven, that was filled with Chantry members, groups of mages and Templars, and others I could only assume would die in the Breach. The Breach that currently _wasn't_ in the sky.

Have I mentioned how much I despise my crone of a grandmother and her meddling magic?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter? Only because I've had this one written for a while. I'd like to say thank you to all who've commented, kudos'd (is that right?) and bookmarked, you all seriously just adding to my already big ego. I don't think my head will fit through the front door anymore. I hope this chapter was was good, I'm still a little unsure about it. It just seems off; really stressed me out when I wrote it.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> 2.15.15

**Author's Note:**

> Its been a while since I've really written any fanfiction, but I'm kind of liking where this is going. I wasn't even sure I wanted this to be a Dragon age fanfiction, to be honest. I'm not really sure how good this is, but I can only really get better if I practice and keep writing, right? That being said, I would love any constructive criticism, so long as it is, y'know helpful? But an comments would really make a nerds day. 
> 
> Another thing to mention: while I love romance as much as the next guy, I really like to go slow with it, especially with Inquisition, I mean for goodness sake, there's a hole in the sky! So there won't be much romance until farther along. 
> 
> Also, I'm really not one to use AO3, so if things appear wonky, its probably because I did something wonky. This site is really confusing. I am also on fanfiction net, under the same username and title, and I'll probably post to tumblr at a later point. 
> 
> I'd also like to make a disclaimer that, while I know some about modern paganism, wicca, and witchcraft beliefs, I am no expert and I am in no way trying to claim to be. While I'm not too sure how much of a role this could play in future chapters, I'd like to mention that this is fantasy, so they will not match what actual modern day witchcraft is; if someone who is legitimately pagan or otherwise and finds offense than I am sorry and please let me know what I can do to fix the problem. 
> 
> 1.18.15


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